COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The University of Maryland track and field team will head to Chapel Hill, NC for the ACC Indoor Championships Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Seniors Dominic Berger and Toni Aluko will look to repeat as ACC Champions and the Terrapins hope to improve upon last year's finishes.

Women
At last year's ACC Outdoor Championships, Aluko jumped to a career-best mark of 5-10 in the high jump to become ACC Champion for the first time in her career. This season, she has already matched that mark, when she placed first at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, hitting the NCAA Provisional and ECAC Championship mark.

Aluko will also look for strong finishes in the long jump and triple jump after hitting the ECAC-qualifying marks for both events already this season. At last year's ACC Indoor Championships, Aluko placed fifth in the long jump and she placed sixth in the triple jump at last season's outdoor championships.

Maryland will hope to open the weekend on the right foot, with strong showings from their throwers. Jillian Anwah placed sixth in the weight throw at last year's event and currently holds the ACC's fifth-best mark in the event at 60-2. Aysha Gregory will also look to improve upon her tenth-place finish in the event last year, when she had a throw of 54-5.5.

Anwah also placed sixth in the shot put at last year's Indoor Championships with a mark of 47-9.25. She has already bested that mark this season, when she finished fifth at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational with an ECAC and NCAA Provisional standard of 50-7.25. That mark is the fourth-best in the ACC this season.

This season, three Terps have qualified for the ECAC Championships in the shot put and weight throw. Along with Anwah and Gregory, junior Ashley Williams will look for a strong performance in the shot put and to beat her career-best mark of 46-4.75. In the weight throw, sophomore Katelyn Poss will also look to finish high after posting her career-best mark of 53-1.50, which is also the tenth-best throw of the season in the ACC.

For the Terrapin hurdlers, top times are expected from Chanel Williams and Christina Smith both of whom have qualified for the ECAC Championships already this season. While there is no competition in the 55-meter hurdles at the ACC Championships, Williams and Smith currently hold the sixth- and ninth-fastest times in the event and will hope to convert that into success in the 60-meter hurdles. Smith has also posted an ECAC-qualifying standard in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.78. At last year's Championships, Williams finished ninth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.62.

Junior Michelle Fedrick cracked the Maryland Indoor all-time list in the 200 meters last weekend at the Virginia Tech Challenge with a time of 25.21 and will look to continue to improve at the ACC Championships. The junior's season-best time of 56.32 in the 400-meters also qualified her for the ECAC Championships in the event.

In the mile, Erin Matyus, Chistina Nelson and Lindsay Ritchings will all hope for strong performances. Matyus has a career-best mile time of 5:00.39, which is also the Terrapins' best on the season and qualified her for the ECAC Championships.

Senior Meghan Braffet holds Maryland's two best times of the season in the 3,000 meters. While she did not compete during last year's indoor season, she placed ninth in the event at the 2006 Indoor ACC Championships and second in the 5,000 meters the same year.

At least year's indoor championships, the Terps finished in 12th place with 16 total points. This season they hope to improve on that result, after a strong start to the indoor season.

Men
On the men's side, senior Dominic Berger, who is this week's ACC Performer of the Week, will look to capture his fifth consecutive ACC Championship. Berger, who has twice earned All-America status, will look to improve upon his season-best time of 7.83 in the 60-meter hurdles. At last year's ACC Indoor Championships, Berger won the event with a time of 7.75. This year, he has already qualified for the IC4A Championships and hit the NCAA Provisional mark.

Also for the Terrapin hurdlers, Adam Durham will look to improve upon his sixth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles at last year's ACC Indoor Championships. The senior has a season-best time of 7.96 in the event, which is an IC4A-qualifying time. Berger and Durham currently hold the second- and third-best 60-meter hurdle times in the ACC this season.

The Terp men will also look to Sal Delhierro to start them off well, when he competes in the weight throw on Thursday evening. Delhierro has a season-best throw of 54-1, but his career-best mark of 58-09.50 puts him at sixth on the Maryland all-time list. The junior will look to beat his sixth-place finish at last year's ACC Indoor Championships, when he had a throw of 55-11.

Delhierro is also expected to post a strong performance in the shotput, as he has bested the IC4A-qualifying mark in every outing this season. His season-best mark of 54-9.25 is the seventh-best shot put in the conference this season.

Freshman Geoff Goidell will also compete in the shot put for the Terps. His season-best mark in the event is 49-7.25 and he will look for a strong outing at his first appearance in the ACC Championships.

For the Maryand jumpers, strong performances are expected out of David Edwards-Brennan, Jason Allen and Victor Gilreath. Edwards-Brennan has already posted an IC4A-qualifying mark, with his season-best high jump of 6-9.75. That jump is the third-best mark in the conference this season. The junior earned All-ACC status at last season's Outdoor Championships when he placed third with a high jump of 6-8.75.

In the long jump, Jason Allen will look to improve upon his season-best and IC4A-qualfying jump of 23-6.75, which ranks him seventh among ACC competitors this season. In June, Allen became USATF Junior National Champion in the long jump with his career-best mark of 24-5.

The Terrapins will also look for a strong performance in the triple jump out of Victor Gilreath. The sophomore's season-best mark of 47-5 has qualified him for the IC4A Championships and is the tenth-best jump in the ACC this season. He will also look to improve upon his ninth-place finish at last season's ACC Indoor Championships.

In another field event, freshman Nick David is expected to perform well in the pole vault at his first career ACC Championships. David has hit the IC4A-qualifying mark with his season-best vault of 15-9, which is also the tenth-best mark in the ACC this season.

The Terrapin sprinters will be led by senior Sean Lowe, who has qualified for the IC4A Championships in the 400 meters. Lowe's season-best time of 46.06 is the sixth-best in the conference on the season. He was also runner-up in the event at last season's ACC Outdoor Championships, earning him All-ACC status. Sophomore Jeremy Samuels and junior Anthony Walker will also look for strong finishes in the event. Samuels has already met the IC4A standard with his season-best time of 48.47 and Walker's season-best time in the event is 49.26.

Sophomore Greg Kelsey will look for a strong performance in the 3,000 meters, as his season-best time of 8:19.72 has already qualified him for the IC4A Championships. Also competing in the event for Maryland is Zach Martinez and Josh Davis.

The Terrapin men hope to improve upon their ninth-place finish at last year's championships.

The 2008 ACC Indoor Championships will be broadcast live on ACCSelect.com. Live stats will also be available on TheACC.com. Log on to UMTerps.com for recaps of Maryland finishers throughout the weekend.